1992: Humble Beginnings

Stemar started with the immigration of Joseph Markonich in 1922 with nothing more than an anvil, a blacksmith hammer, a pair of strong arms, and an American dream.

1922 - 1953: Blacksmith Shop

Stemar was a staple for local ditch diggers to get their hand tools sharpened from the early 1920s all the way up until the mid-late 1950s.

1953: Steve Markonich joins the Family Business!

To compliment the sharpening business, Stemar began selling picks, shovels, and other hand tools. Soon enough, we had a steady stream of regular customers.

Stemar Adapts

Anxious to cater to their needs, Stemar kept adding various tools, mostly requested, to our inventory.

STEMAR HAS CONTINUED THIS TREND OF ACTING UPON CUSTOMER REQUESTS FOR OVER 60 YEARS NOW...

1960 - 1965: Early Struggles

Stemar became one of the very first distributors for SPEED SHORE®. We had the largest inventory of Speed Shores in the area... BUT NO ONE WAS BUYING!

1960 - 1965: The First Rental

After a few months of struggle there was a customer who wanted to rent FIFTY SPEED SHORES! Steve was reluctant, but desperate.

1960 - 1965: The "Lightbulb" Moment

"We were $30,000 in debt with a brand new product and no buyers. The customer walked in and needed fifty shores. When I couldn't convince him to buy we came into Stemar's FIRST RENTAL AGREEMENT. When the shores were returned I was $4,500 richer and the shores were still like new. That's when the light turned on. We were in the RENTAL BUSINESS.

-Steve Markonich

1968: New Beginnings

We restructured and incorporated our business in 1968 with an official name change from "Ditch Diggers" to "STEMAREquipment and Supply Company". By combining quality manufacturers like SPEED SHORE®, insightful tips from contractors, and straight forward customer service we became very popular with the pipeline and underground utility industry.

2022: An Industry Leader

Today STEMAR leads our industry in reliable pipe plug and pipe testing equipment including keeping in stock everything required to perform high and low pressure tests for pipes anywhere from 1" to 96" in diameter. 

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STEMAR hosts an ample array of professional underground utility and demolition products including small hand tools, confined space safety gear, and any equipment you would need for a sewer bypass job; 2" to 6" trash pumps, suction & discharge hoses, all kinds of plugs, and more.